Stonehaven 2nds v. Portcullis - Saturday, 28 April, 2018

The opening week of the 2018 season started with frustration and ended with a worthy run-out and a rare friendly victory.

The frustration was when we found that Duthie Park pitch had not been marked for our home fixture against Grampian 2nds and therefore had to be cancelled. With not having any friendlies either this looked as if Portcullis’s first game of the season would now be in May.

Further cancellations in the Grades saw Stonehaven 2nds also without a fixture. A few hasty phone calls and mass rearranging saw a friendly come to fruition as the two sides arranged a friendly so that the Saturday was not totally wasted.

With both teams sporting 11’s, the Captains saw to it that Portcullis Cricket Club were to bat first.

Opening for Portcullis in the glorious sunshine would be the experienced pairing of Dave Forbes and Richard Collinson. They would face a unique bowling attack in the shape of regular Grades campaigner Nigel King. Sharing the cherry with him was another left arm over seamer in the shape of Ray Van Gisson – the name being very familiar to the Portcullis posse. Van Gisson had impressed in the past with his solid batting and honed wicketkeeper skills, if his bowling was to match then the Portcullis pair would be in for a tough time.

And so it proved!

Collinson was first to go. A mistimed shot saw him offer a sharp return catch which Van Gisson snaffled to complete a fine caught and bowled. Van Gisson soon grabbed a second wicket when he got one to jag back from way outside leg stump to bowl Blackwell round his legs.

Disaster struck soon after when Dave Forbes, even after losing six stone over the winter, was not fleet of foot enough to avoid being run out – albeit from a cracking pick up and direct hit throw from the Stonehaven fielder.

Portcullis at this point were 8-3 after 7 overs. Not healthy for this 35 overs a side match.

This brought the pairing of Jake Dawson and Kannan Vijayakrishnan to the crease and thankfully the pair put on a partnership of 30 befroe Dawson fell bowled by Kassman for 8. Skipper Shovon Mostofa entered the fray and this brought about some much-needed stability.

Vijayakrishnan soon retired on 35 his final shot being his second sparkling six of the day. Bob Adie and Andy Philip fell to the bowling charms of Barrie Jnr and Paterson soon after. This brought Andrew Blackburn into the contest.

At last Blackburn produced the runs that his technique had promised so often. He hit a rapid 24, outscoring his Captain comfortably as the Portcullis score increased before being bowled by Donnelly.

Mostofa marshalled the tail before retiring on 30. The innings finally closing on 126 after 35 overs.

Vijayakrishnan top scored with 35* whilst Mostofa (30*) and Blackburn (24) added valuable runs to the innings. Ray Van Gisson topped the bowling figures with 2-9 in a varied attack. It was good to see the Stonehaven youngsters turn their arms over and all of them (as well as a few oldsters) bowled well today.

After a splendid tea it was time for Stonehaven 2nds to post their reply. The batting was to be led by the familiar Van Gisson and B. Donnelly. Portcullis would open their bowling with Andy Blackburn and Brian Harper. It was Portcullis who would strike the first blow. Brian Harper taking the first wicket of the Portcullis season with a fine delivery, getting the ball to wobble enough to deceive the luckless Donnelly.

This brought the seasoned Stonehaven campaigner Brian Campbell to the crease to join the dangerous Van Gisson. The pair dug in and put on a fine fifty partnership for the second wicket. It was not easy going though. Far from it. Scoring was difficult as the Portcullis bowling proved difficult to get away. Blackburn showed his bowling could flourish just as his batting did, a sharp caught & bowled chance to dismiss the potent Van Gisson went abegging. Shame as this would have capped a very fine day for the promising all-rounder.

Harper and Blackburn were to be replaced by Vijayakrishnan and Mostofa during this passage of play. Although the pair bowled equally as tightly as the opening pair before them, neither could make the breakthrough.

Being a friendly Mostofa continued to mix things up and experiment by introducing Phillip into the fray. Phillip had shown a new flair with his bowling during Portcullis’s indoor net sessions and Skipper Mostofa was hoping the happy-go-lucky Phillip would transfer his indoor potential to the outdoor arena.

It did not appear so initially as Phillip’s first 7 balls went for a sloppy 12 runs – out of sync with the rest of the Portcullis bowling attack. Stonehaven quickly climbing back into this match as a result.

If Philip was out-out (Micky Flanagan typo I deliberately left in!) of sync with balls 1-7, balls 8 & 9 saw him back in sync rapid!

Ball eight saw the demise of dangerman Van Gisson for a splendid 30 – a mistimed pull to a good length delivery saw a prowling Vijayakrishnan at mid-on make no mistake with a fine high catch going over him towards the boundary. With ball nine Phillip finally breached the sturdy defences of Campbell, a fine delivery demolishing the timbers.

54-1 became 54-3 and the match pendulum swung firmly back towards Portcullis. Mostofa, having kept himself on, joined in the fun by bowling Kassman when the score reached 60. It was a timely wicket as Kassman was beginning to grow in confidence and potency.

Philip was having serious fun now and, buoyant with this new-found confidence, took another wicket in his next over. This time bowling the unfortunate Barrie Jnr. Stonehaven now 61-5.

This turn of events brought about the classy experience of Dave Long Snr to the crease. He was to be joined by (unfamiliar to Portcullis) Neal Paterson. The score moved onto 67 when Phillip took his fourth and fifth wickets.

First up was the lively Paterson. He was out having struck a fine blow that appeared boundary bound. Alas he picked out the ever-alert Vijayakrishnan who further endorsed his well-respected fielding reputation with another super catch.

The (first time ever!) Andy Philip five-for was made complete when he bowled Donnelly with a fine in-swinger. The spell completing a remarkable turnaround in the match. Stonehaven now 67-7.

This brought Nigel King to the crease and, along with Long Snr, the pair batted extremely admirably. Long Snr forever rotating the strike whilst the fast scoring all-rounder King accelerating the run-rate with well timed ones and twos interrupted by the odd flamboyant boundary.

Alas the run-rate was too much on this occasion and the pair both fell on their swords. Both to the wily skills of Vijayakrishnan. King was first to fall. He found himself lured into a cheeky single that was usually on. Alas on this occasion he had challenged the fielding prowess of Vijayakrishnan. Only a direct hit would do and the Portcullissian duly obliged.

Long Snr’s innings also ended as he was bowled by the fine Indian player. It was left the pairing Of Stuart [Stewart] and Daniel to draw the Stonehaven innings to a close.

I suppose the match will record as a win for Portcullis. Looking at the history of the Portcullis annals, the last time the club recorded a friendly victory was in 1918.

A significant year as the First World War came to an end, the lovable Betty Ford whose clinics I still attend to was born and Portcullis President Bob Adie first passed his plus 11 (possibly untrue- - it was 1912!).

The truth is two teams got together for a friendly. All 22 players got an opportunity to bat. 16 players (Stonehaven 9 – Portcullis 7) got to bowl. The result was irrelevant. Experienced players got a run-out, inexperienced players got an opportunity to flourish and everybody won!

PORTCULLIS MAN OF THE MATCH.

ANDY PHILLIP just beats Kannan Vijayakrishnan on this occasion. Andy’s first ever five-for shades it. The 2-in-2 balls capture of Van Gisson and Campbell swung the match and my decision.

The challengers on this day were Kannan Vijayakrishnan who had a superb match whilst Shovon Mostofa led from the front admirably!

STONEHAVEN MAN OF THE MATCH.

RAY VAN GISSELL takes the honours with is knock of 30 and bowling figures of 2-9 in 4 overs. A classy cricketer who plays with a smile on his face and with a tremendous infectious positive attitude to the sport. Both Brian Campbell and Nigel King put in all-round classy performances to merit worthy mentions.

PORTCULLIS CATCH OF THE MATCH.

KANNAN VIJAYAKRISHNAN with that fine overhead catch is the easy winner once again. The catch was a match changer! Not the first (hopefully nor the last) time his fielding prowess has swung the balance towards the City Centre Green Caps!

STONEHAVEN FIELDING MOMENT OF THE MATCH.

ANDREW KASSMAN took on the recent weight loss of Portcullis opener Dave Forbes. Despite the (rapidly) shrinking efforts of (once really) big fellow. He was a gutted 2nd to the fielding prowess of Kassman. A tip-and-run chase saw our favourite hirsute fellow nailed by the Stonehaven fielder!